A 24-year-old Pakistan national has been arrested by Rajasthan Police, who had allegedly crossed the India-Pakistan border in Rajasthan’s Sriganganagar district with an intention to harm former Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) spokesperson Nupur Sharma.
Sriganganagar Superintendent of Police Anand Sharma on Tuesday told the media, "One person had crossed the border on the intervening night of July 16-17 and had come near the fence. The BSF guards who were on duty arrested him and later handed him over to the Hindumalkot Police Station.”
Two knives, clothes, religious books, a water bottle, some eatables and some other things have been recovered from his bag, according to the police. The police had lodged the FIR against him and a multi-agency joint interrogation committee (JIC) was constituted immediately to investigate the matter and question him. He is presently in police remand.
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Sharma added, "The preliminary investigations reveal that the person is named Rizwan Ashraf (24) and he is a resident of Pakistan. During interrogation, he confessed that he wanted to come to India to take action against Nupur Sharma over her objectionable statements over Prophet Mohammad.”
Nupur created controversy with her comments on Prophet Muhammad, leading to widespread outrage.
When asked about his plan of action to reach Nupur, SP Anand Sharma said, “After his interrogation, the joint interrogation committee is convinced that the man was ‘religiously motivated’ and had come to India to harm Nupur Sharma but the police could not find any plan of action as he seemed clueless of how to reach her.”
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Many people in Rajasthan receive threats
Several people in Rajasthan, including BJP MP Kirodi Lal Meena, have received death threats for supporting Nupur Sharma and Udaipur tailor Kanhaiya Lal.
On July 18, Meena, a Rajya Sabha MP from Rajasthan, alleged that he received a death threat via a letter for helping the family of Kanhaiya Lal who was brutally murdered in June in Udaipur.
As per Meena, the letter was sent to his Delhi residence and it mentions that he shall be attacked for supporting Kanhaiya Lal’s family.
In a letter addressed to CM Ashok Gehlot, Meena wrote, “I received a threat letter dated July 9, 2022, at my residence in Delhi. The person has openly threatened me and attached a clipping of news which mentions my announcement of giving my one month’s salary to the aggrieved family of the tailor.”
Only July 15, two men from Potla village and Asind in Bhilwara district received death threats from unknown persons for supporting Nupur Sharma on social media. In connection with this case, the police have so far arrested five people and an FIR has been filed in connection to the case in Asind, Bhilwara.
Earlier this month, Rajasthan Police arrested Gauhar Chishti, the Ajmer Dargah Khadim, for raising provocative slogans against Nupur Sharma. On July 15, a court in Ajmer sent Chishti to seven days of custody after he was presented before the magistrate.
